


flicker

by theowlinsomniac



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 05:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2178846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theowlinsomniac/pseuds/theowlinsomniac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It had been something like serendipity (irony, a play of destiny) that Katara showed up in the throne room only hours after the departure of his (ex) fiancé..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	flicker

There was a lull in the chaos. Mai had left him for good this time, and he couldn't bring himself to blame her. Recent times had been more difficult than others, and their fight for the missing link had dwindled to nothing over the past few months.

It had been something like serendipity (irony, a play of destiny) that Katara showed up in the throne room only hours after the departure of his (ex) fiancé. She smiled at him, hands on her hips (wider than they had been when they'd first met, he noted) and blue eyes aflame. There was no sympathy in her eyes, though she must have known by his particularly sobered scowl that something was amiss. Regardless, she beckoned him with a strong (yet much too quick) embrace, and commanded him to follow her out. 

(Imagine that, a Water Tribe girl commanding a Fire Lord. He didn't give the thought enough time to settle into his head before following with her orders.) 

He donned all black attire, and she her peasants clothes, and she pulled him along into the rougher parts of his capital. The darkness would not be enough to hide their identities, he thought, but she continued without care and ignored the curious looks they received by passing citizens and shopkeepers closing their doors for the evening. 

If Zuko's head of security could see them now, he'd certainly "disappointed" to the point of smoking breath, but Katara's hand was warm and the music in the distance pulled him forward, magnetic as the feel of her fingers interlocked with his.

( _Ah_. He thought to himself. _This is what this feels like._ )

A thought is spared for Mai, who would be wandering with her younger brother, now. The dimly lit barn was enough to drag his attention back to the now, to his best friend eagerly pulling him through the doors and into the rush.

He wondered for a moment how Katara knew of this place. People are rushing about, laughing, shouting. Katara's hand slipped from his and he glanced her way, uncertain. In the room there's loud music, strange instruments played by smiling musicians. No one is dressed in one color, all in vibrant reds and greens. Katara doesn't stick out in her blue and black, only apart of the madness.

"No." He said. "Absolutely not." 

She frowned at him, bottom lip poking out, arms across her chest. A sigh escaped him. ( _Not this._ )

She hopped in front of him, eyes half lidded in jest, but somehow he found it alluring.

"Come on, Zuko," he exhaled when she said his name so freely here, "just one dance, okay?"

The beat changed, a tune meant for something much happier than he was feeling. His frown remained, but he slid his hands into hers and slowly followed the beaming Waterbender into the midst of the dance floor. There was a space for them, but it doesn't make his heart race any slower from being with her. 

She started out, hips swaying with an airy laugh. He almost detected embarrassment, but he's the one who hadn't moved at all. Movements turn into steps, and just like that she was in a world of her own. Hips swing and arms move to the harsh rhythm. She smiled, and eventually he broke. 

He allowed her to twirl herself on his arm, move close and move back. She laughed so purely over the music he almost thought it was apart of the song. Voices rang out and in a few minutes he was stepping with her, moving her in and out of reach, spinning and moving his legs. His own hips wove like hers, mirroring her and making her giggle. They moved in and out of their confined space, bumping shoulders with strangers, bumping shoulders with each other. 

It ended with their arms raised above their heads, both breathless and aching. He hadn't moved like that in a long time, but neither had she. Once the song came to and end she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him fiercely. He could detect the faint curve of of her cheek against his chest, and the curve of her body flushed against his own.

He hugged her back, despite the hoots and whistles directed at them, and they left side by side when the song came to an end. 

"She left me." He said as they moved slowly forward.

"She didn't deserve you." She retorted, but they both know that isn't true. (Or at least, he _thought_ that's what they both knew.)

"And who does?" He always asked this after her famous response.

She stopped short. "Someone who makes you better." 

He smiled from above her, nudging her shoulder with his own. "Someone like you?" He teased. Her face became hot, a darker shade for embarrassment. 

"You know what I mean." And yet they've always seen this coming. Even Mai herself had noticed their pull. 

"Yeah." He agreed with himself then, (She'd always more than deserved him. He was the one undeserving of her.) "Yeah I do." A hand moved across her back, bringing her into a sideways embrace.

They walked like this until they reached the gates, his arm around her shoulder, her arms around his middle. They paused only then to lock fingers and retreat to the palace in silence. She kissed his (scarred) cheek and retired before she could a longer discussion like she usually would on the first nights of her visit. ( _Another time, perhaps._ ) He watched her disappear into her room, and he turned to face his own, lips upturned in a smile that had not been there before. 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:  
> Inspired by: "Young Blood" by The Naked and Famous   
> ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdO85Qf4Poc )


End file.
